Quinsigamond Community College police officer put on house arrest

Saturday

Feb 9, 2013 at 6:00 AM

By Susan Spencer TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Her voice choked with emotion, Quinsigamond Community College police officer Andrea Prinsen, 32, described on the witness stand Thursday how her supervisor, Sgt. Mark A. Brooks, “went off on her” after she confronted him early the morning of Jan. 31 about why he didn’t respond to her request for backup when investigating a suspicious vehicle in the parking lot.

Sgt. Brooks, 44, of 11 Church St., Oxford, allegedly grabbed her wrist, twisted her arm, threw her into a door and onto the ground, tried to choke her, sprayed her with pepper spray, blocked her from telephoning their chief and took away her cellphone and keys when she tried to get help.

“Spit was hitting my face, he was yelling so loud,” Ms. Prinsen said. “He said it’s not going to end pretty for me. … I didn’t think I was going to go home that night.”

Judge Janet J. McGuiggan determined Friday morning, after a dangerousness hearing in Central District Court that lasted two days, that Sgt. Brooks posed a danger to the alleged victim and to the community.

The judge set bail at $10,000 cash or $100,000 surety, which Sgt. Brooks’ lawyer, James B. Triplett, said he would meet.

She placed Sgt. Brooks on house arrest and ordered him to wear a GPS monitor, stay away from Ms. Prinsen and her town of West Brookfield, and only leave his home for medical or legal visits or to attend mandatory meetings at the college.

Sgt. Brooks is charged with assault to murder, two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery on a police officer, two counts of intimidation of a witness, carrying a dangerous weapon on school grounds and three counts of improper storage of a firearm.

He has been suspended from his job and is prohibited from returning to campus during the investigation, according to a college spokesman.

A pretrial hearing is scheduled for March 7.

Mr. Triplett said in his closing statement, “The essence of this is … a he-said-she-said situation.”

He questioned Ms. Prinsen’s potentially ulterior motives as “payback” for previous friction with Sgt. Brooks. Both Ms. Prinsen and her mother, who also works as a campus police officer, had been called “insubordinate” by Sgt. Brooks on at least one other occasion.

Mr. Triplett said that Sgt. Brooks had an impeccable work record over 25 years as a campus police officer, and that he had received two awards for good conduct. He said the incident on Jan. 31 was a work disagreement that resulted in an altercation when Sgt. Brooks relieved Ms. Prinsen of duty.

Testifying for the defense Thursday, Leo F. Polizoti, a clinical psychologist who administered a short version of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory and interviewed Sgt. Brooks, said the defendant’s psychological profile showed no signs of aggressive or impulsive behavior.

“There is absolutely nothing that I see that he would behave in this way at all,” Mr. Polizoti said.

Mr. Polizoti said that Sgt. Brooks told him that when he attempted to escort Ms. Prinsen out of the building after relieving her of duty, “She came marching back in and shoved him hard.”

Ms. Prinsen, who is 4 feet 11 inches tall, testified she hasn’t returned to work since the incident and she lives in fear of her 6-foot-2-inch assailant.

Worcester Police Officer Michael LaHair testified for the prosecution Friday that when he responded to a call about an assault in progress at the college around 3 a.m. Jan. 31, he found Ms. Prinsen visibly shaken.

“She was absolutely in shock,” Officer LaHair said. He described Ms. Prinsen as trembling and grabbing onto her arm. She was covered in mud and had orange residue on her face and sputum coming out of her mouth and nose.

She told Officer LaHair that she pleaded with Sgt. Brooks to return her cellphone and help her get something for the pepper spray in her eyes and mouth. He returned her phone and keys after she promised not to tell anybody about the assault. She then escaped to another building, hid in an elevator and called 911.

Assistant District Attorney Timothy Westerman said that when Ms. Prinsen confronted Sgt. Brooks after he failed to assist her, he “snapped.”

In arguing for Sgt. Brooks not to be released, Mr. Westerman said: “Andrea is in fear of this defendant. The defendant told her ‘This will not end well.’ If released, there’s nothing to stop this individual from finishing what he started.”